罰ゲームPerhaps the best known Gaki no Tsukai episodes are those dealing with batsu games, or punishment games, in which one or more of the cast members are subjected to after losing bets, major competition, or physical challenges

Hope for the not being scared part we see the return of Heipo Frankenstein!

There's going to be tag game that's for sure. I really want Masamoto to take part. Not locked up in a box. There is some part in me that thinks Hosei might not be the only one who gets slapped this year. Maybe there be a bit like the Batsu Experiment episodes.

Sure I'd love to see Matsumoto doing the tag game, he actually never did, even in the original one in 2000. He's probably the one that does the most sport so it's weird he kind of need excuses in order to avoid it. Anyway, it'll be great as 90% of the time. I just hope they'll show some new skits.

Dearka wrote:Hope for the not being scared part we see the return of Heipo Frankenstein!

There's going to be tag game that's for sure. I really want Masamoto to take part. Not locked up in a box. There is some part in me that thinks Hosei might not be the only one who gets slapped this year. Maybe there be a bit like the Batsu Experiment episodes.

I agree, I'd love to see them do something like the haunted fetch quests like they used to. Not so much make Matsumoto partake in a tag game, but have him involved. I really liked when they added Nakai Masahiro to the beginning as a way to mix it up. I tend to watch the older Batsu games as opposed to the newer ones, though I love them all.

I'm well aware that it will never happen but I still wish they would tone it down with big (but boring) cameos, massive stages, expensive explosions, overproducing and overscripting every "trap" and running the great gags into the ground (drawer opening turning into multiple segment, etc.).

In the two onsen batsu games, Highschool, Police and Hospital showes it was all about Gaki members and interactions between them. That's all you need. Once the "new" formulatic nature and bigger production values became a norm, the Gaki members kinda stopped being the main entertainers and transformed into simple observers who're pretty much just sitting around, waiting for elaborately scripted cameo to happen.

It's probably much easier for Gaki members (and production team) this way, since there's no pressure on them to be constantly entertaining by themselves.But still, to me, the best stuff always happens during the unscripted banter and truly improvised gags during their downtime in the main room, while they're waiting for another big scripted segment. (Sadly they're often interrupted by Fujiwara, who's coming to pick them up for the next transition.)

The two ancient Onsen batsu games were pretty much 100% just them sitting in a single room, relaxing and trapping each other. With Itao or other friends dropping by occasionally to shake things up a little. And it was pure comedy gold.I realize why the big explosions and cameos need to happen now, but having 5 comedy geniuses with this much charisma, and comedic experience and wasting their time together on endless scripted bus rides instead of giving them some room for simple improv, feels like a damn waste if you ask me.

I agree, Stycki. The 2000-2006 batsu games were the best, because there was a sense of tension, of competition. With the 2007 batsu game, there was a transition from focusing on being those wild kids from the 80s humiliating each other to focusing on big celeb cameos for ratings. To that effect, one of the post-2007 batsu games even has "Beat Kohaku!" in its opening.

I agree 100% with you. But when you think about it, the show is now 5 hours long and used to be around 2. So technically, the time they spend together hanging out and make each other laugh is still the same, maybe even more actually. But I get what you means, these 2 golden hours are drowned in the middle of many segments I could really stop watching (the bus, the round table, the variety show stages etc.)You made a great sentence saying they're just observers now and not the main attraction anymore, and I couldn't agree more. I hope my English made sense all the way

Hi, I'm new around here, but been a Gaki fan since the 90's! Yes, quite the old fan!Here's my two cents: I'm happy with the changes, as they are not drastic changes. You can see that the producers are trying to stay current & fresh, keep the interest high. They might be getting some flack from the network that the same old stuff is getting old and may have been losing ratings in the last few years of Batsu games. Perhaps that is why they spread some rumours that it could be the last year of Batsu....